fOS Part I – A Roadmap to World Class Manufacturing Execution

This is Part I of a five part series of posts meant to shape the framework of the fOS Methodology and philosophy. fOS is an acronym for Facility Operating System and is proprietary methodology developed by myself for Manuficient Consulting. The goal of the fOS Methodology is to provide a factory with a roadmap to World Class Execution, which I regard as at least 85% OEE. OEE, or Operational Equipment Effectiveness, is a well-known measure of factory or process efficiency that considers three primary factors: Uptime, Throughput (or rate loss), and Yield. I go into much more detail about OEE in other posts so I’ll spare you the time here. It is the ultimate measure of productivity because it is simple, yet comprehensive and can be consistently applies across one or a whole series of processes. Its simplicity makes it a great measure to use to benchmark across factories, networks, or entire supply chains.

The fOS methodology is a derivative of Demming’s PDCA (or Plan, Do, Check, Act) Continuous Improvement model. The PDCA model was designed for localized improvement of a process or production area. fOS places a broader focus on the end-to-end manufacturing execution process and places Management Systems at the core of plant performance results (or lack thereof). The scope of Management Systems includes the combination of metrics, meetings, meeting structure, issue escalation process, reaction criteria, continuous improvement systems, and other components that will be discussed in detail in subsequent parts of this series.

fOS Methodology is a four part cycle that makes up the manufacturing Continuous Improvement Cycle:

A deep analysis of planning and procurement processes used to predict plant lead times, resources required (including parts, materials, raw materials, and manning), and support required to meet or exceed 85% OEE levels

fOS Part III: Execution – An analysis of the current state of operations

At this phase, the factory undergoes an assessment of current manufacturing processes, sources of losses, bottleneck analysis (or production constraint analysis), capacity analysis, process reliability and other methods to develop an intimate mastery of the current manufacturing process. The factory’s current OEE performance is also determined at this phase of analysis

In this phase an in-depth review of factory management systems is reviewed such as metrics, reporting mechanisms, escalation protocols, reaction criteria, continuous improvement culture, and many other aspects to determine what is driving the gap between current state and World Class performance.

fOS Part V: Improvement – The path to World Class Execution

Here is where current manufacturing practices are benchmarked against best-practices across industries to determine initial areas for improvement. Also, a comparison of the factory’s current practices is made against the fundamental principals of Continuous Improvement considering Lean, Six Sigma, Agile, RMS, and a host of other proven models for improving manufacturing performance. This is the final phase where a detailed roadmap to World Class Execution is developed (and possibly implemented) prioritized by the greatest areas for improvement. This roadmap might include a series of improvement events, engineered process changes, organizational changes, capital improvements or any other recourse determined to close the gap between current state and World Class Execution. All improvement ideas and savings estimates are developed in collaboration with production and financial management personnel within the organization.

In conclusion of this assessment, the factory or manufacturing network will have a clear and executable step-by-step plan for closing the gap between current state and World Class Execution. In some cases, further assistance can be provided by Manuficient Consulting to support in the plan’s implementation. Stay tuned for more detailed information on each part of the fOS manufacturing improvement methodology.

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